When do governments deserve our allegiance, and when should they be denied it?
This course explores the main answers that have been given to this question in the modern West. We start with a survey of the major political theories of the Enlightenment: Utilitarianism, Marxism, and the social contract tradition. In each case, we begin with a look at classical formulations, locating them in historical context, but then shift to the contemporary debates as they relate to politics today.
Next, we turn to the rejection of Enlightenment political thinking, again exploring both classical and contemporary formulations. The last part of the course deals with the nature of, and justifications for, democratic politics, and their relations to Enlightenment and Anti-Enlightenment political thinking.
In addition to exploring theoretical differences among the various authors discussed, considerable attention is devoted to the practical implications of their competing arguments. To this end, we discuss a variety of concrete problems, including debates about economic inequality, affirmative action and the distribution of health care, the limits of state power in the regulation of speech and religion, and difficulties raised by the emerging threat of global environmental decay.

Taught By

Ian Shapiro

Transcript

So today we're going to continue talking about Marxism, and we're going to zero in on the concept of exploitation, which is at the core of the Marxist tradition. Remember we said, that what differentiates the Marxist tradition from others is this notion that for all of human history people have one way or another been exploited. And eventually there will be a communist order when exploitation goes away. And what we're going to do is try to get a grip on Marx's thinking on that and how it connects to his theory of capitalism. Because really what he was doing in the last decades of his life, was working out a theory of capitalism and he thought that, like Adam Smith and David Ricardo before him, he could come up with an account of the dynamics of capitalist systems, how and why they behave in the way they do, and eventually what sorts of problems start to work themselves into the DNA if you like. It wasn't his term, but it is suddenly the, the basic idea, into the very essence of a capitalist order. The same things that make it the most productive system in the history of the world, are going to turn out to be the things which eventually destroy it. And understanding that the, the competitive dynamic that drives capitalism on the one hand, and the nature of exploitation on the other for Marx are two sides of the same coin. And as we talk about exploitation, what you're going to discover is that just like the utilitarian think, as we've talked about, there's going to be a micro story and there's going to be a macro story. And what we'll do today is first work our way through the micro story and then show how it relates to the macro story, and just as in the utilitarian tradition. With everybody behaving as a selfish utility maximizer. There's a kind of invisible hand consequence of that, that it works for the benefit of society. Marx also has an invisible hand story that is that people are going to act out the logic of the incentives in front of them in a productive system. And there's going to be an invisible hand result. But it's not all going to all be a happy invisible hand result. It will be happy for a while, but it starts to become unhappy over time. So that's our agenda today. But before we dig into it, there's one critical distinction that we need to understand. And it's a distinction that, unfortunately, Marx doesn't choose his terms very well, and so it's a little bit counterintuitive. He makes a distinction between what he calls a class in itself and a class for itself. And it's very important that we get straight, what he meant by these terms. So if, if I say a class in itself what do you think he might have meant? >> Maybe about specialization of the work force that's basically the fact that you're captured within a class, it's class in itself, >> That's a reasonable guess but it isn't what he had in mind. What would you think of? >> A class in itself could be a particular class with it's own distinct identity and a class for itself could be a class with it's, just a focus on it's own interests. >> Okay so, it's also a reasonable guess and, and it's maybe that Marx should be criticized more than you because actually what he meant was almost the antithesis of what you just said. So for Marx, a class in itself is a class objectively defined by reference to it, its member's interests. So if your interests are aligned with the working class you're a member of the working class. And in itself since objectively defined. In this sense Marx is theorizing in the tradition of Bentham and Hobbes. That we've talked about before. Remember, Hobbes thought during the English Civil War that people were confused about their interests, about what was good for them and if, if only they understood more clearly they would see it. And likewise when we talked about Bentham, we talked about the fact that he thought most of the time people don't realize what's motivating them. But he said it's the rare case we understand what's motivating us. So they're both giving objective accounts Marx's class in itself is objective in that sense. Class for itself is what people believe. Okay. What, what people believe about their class identities. And oftentimes throughout, and Marx wants to say throughout the whole of human history, people have been confused. So, people who are objectively, according to his analysis, part of the working class, don't realize it, they don't identify with the working class. They identify with some other identity group. But a time will come, he thinks, when, and this is what's going to differentiate the communist revolution from all previous revolutions, in which it, the class in itself and the class for itself are going to come together. And so, for the first time when we, when we get the collapse of capitalism. And we actually reinforce socialism and then communism, people will self consciously make their own history and design institutions for their own benefit. Which they will understand for the first time. Real workmanship, if you like, as opposed to pseudo workmanship or misunderstood workmanship for the first time. >> But is that about identity politics that he's talking about or? >> So class for itself is all about identity politics. So if you if you think if the thing that motivates you I'm just to give another example. At the beginning of the first World War, after Marx was dead. That the, man, many of Marx's followers who had formed something called the Second International said. To the working classes of Europe, stop. Don't fight one another. This whole idea of nationalism, that you should be fighting for Britain, or Germany, or France. It's not in your interest. you, you don't, your interests, the British workers, and French workers, and, German workers have the same interests against the interests of the British, French and German capitalists. Ref, you should refuse to fight in this war, they failed. And in fact as we know the working classes of Europe were, were easily mobilized to fight against one another, so that's identity politics. They identified with their nations rather than with their class interests, so from Marxist's point of view that would be a, not anything approaching a communist revolution, obviously. Because the working classes of Europe in, in 1914 were not seeing their class interest from a Marxist point of view. So that's, yeah? >> You mentioned that the, the working class was just confused about their status as working class. >> Yes. >> And confused about their interests as a result. >> Yes. What makes working class? >> So what makes somebody working class? Exactly. So Marx, what would you guess? >> You need to work. >> Exactly right. So the definition of being working class is that you have to work for somebody else in order to live. Okay, you're in a, you're, you're somebody who has to work for somebody else in order to live. If you're not in that position then you're not a member of the working class. And, so, those are the people whose objective interests are shared. Okay? And so anybody who lives from capital doesn't have to work. From, for somebody else in order to let fight. >> But it means that you're old and working class. >> We're not all working class but most of us are working class. >> But if you're working for the other, if you're working for the other and 90% of population is working. >> Exactly so you know, think back to the Occupy Wall Street movement we are the 99%. That was exactly how Marx understood it. Not only are most people working class, but for reasons we'll understand further on in today's lecture more and more people will become working class. Because many capitalists are going to go out of business and eventually fall down into the working class. As the, the dynamic of capitalism plays itself out. So yeah, almost everybody is working class. >> There, there's a huge portion of the population that have things, 401Ks, they have stock op, stock options, they have investments, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. >> Huge portion. >> These people are living from capital, you might say. >> Yeah, they're capitalists. >> If you have a reti, as you say, many people who we think as professionals, they're working class in Marxist sense because they have to work for others in order to live, but you're making a valid point. Which didn't, didn't apply in his day, after all, 19th century Victorian Britain, that many, many workers have 401ks. They have retirement plans in which they have investments in capital. They own shares, they own, they own, you know, in, shares in, you know, TIAA-CREF for professors, or Vanguard or or these, these different funds. They're owners of capital and they're getting interest. They're getting a return. How can they be working class you might say. This problem didn't exist in Marx's day but I don't think it would have fazed him in the slightest because what he would've said is well. What matters is necessity. So if you have, you know, a little 401K with, with you know, a few thousand dollars in it. That's not enough to allow you to walk away from your job. And that's the key distinction the power to walk away from your job. It's, it's the ideas necessity to be in the power of somebody else. So if, if I have, if I get to the point where I have enough invested in my 401K that I can quit. The issue is not whether I choose whether I do quit. I might not be the kind of person who wants to play golf or watch tv all day, or sit on a beach. So I might keep working. But, but if, if I have the freedom to leave, I'm no longer am a member of the working class. So it's this idea of being subject compulsion from another. Necessity, in the power of someone else. Okay, that's the key in, in where you would draw the line. Yes? >> Yeah, I have a question. I hope you won't mind. You drive a fancy Porsche. >> Okay. >> Right? So how you can then, be a working class? >> So that's exactly right. Somebody might say, I'm not, you know, and a common ideology in American politics is people don't like to identify as working class. They say, I'm not working class, I'm just passing through. People expect to become bourgeois, they expect to have, fancy cars, they expect to, to get all the of a, of a nice lifestyle. That's false consciousness according Marx, so I might have these, these jumped up notions, you know, and I get myself a nice car even if I'm. You know, working around the clock teaching summer school, or making MOOCs in order to pay for it. But I'm still objectively speaking, working class and I'm just confused about my identity. So, this is, this is the basic idea behind, the distinction. And it's a very important distinction for Marx as we'll see, because he really did believe, that eventually everybody who is working class would realize where their interests ray, where their interests lay and would act collectively to change things. And why he thought that was going to happen, is what we're going to get into now.

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